2008年10月26日 星期日

Revolutionary New Blood Bank

Spectrum | 24.09.2008 | 00:30

Revolutionary New Blood Bank

A British cancer charity has opened a revolutionary new blood bank which will store samples from the umbilical cords of new born babies.

The Anthony Nolan Trust says the bank could provide stemcells for transplant or research. The Trust aims to collect as many as fifty thousand samples. Leukemia sufferers have welcomed the move; stemcell transplants have already saved the lives of thousands of leukaemia patients around the world. But a leading medical academic and researcher has questioned some of the publicity surrounding the new blood bank. Professor Robert Winston says stemcell research is in its very early stages and a wide range of effective stemcell treatments could be many years away. Stephen Beard reports.